Batman Shadow the Hedgehog
by Ceciliavonjoy
Summary: Empire City has a dirty underbelly, and only Black Cat can clean up the streets. But who is Black Cat, exactly? This is a life in the day of Rouge Ray, orphan millionaire, and her best friend husband guy, Shadow. Not to mention their little son! (One-shot, but I might add on more.)


The sun rose over Empire City. The city ignored it and stayed quiet but for a few hopeful newsstands and fast food places, as though the Empire was collectively hungover and unwilling to move.

To the west, the buildings stepped down to sea level, creating a curve for the city limits. They gave way to grey concrete docks and carrier ships just beginning to pick up steam. Seagulls cried out in the sky. Grumbling workers on the ground were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

The docks pointed out towards the sea, and not far out was a green hill poking out from the water: Ray Island. From the mainland, you could see a two-story house on the very top. What the house lacked in height, it made up for in width; it was three times as long as it was tall. The sun shone off its rich brown wood, the building almost glowing. All the windows cast a glare, though their insides were blocked by dark red curtains.

On the top floor, an alarm clock blared. Rouge sat up in bed, and slammed her hand down on the clock. She ran a hand through her bedhead to fix it while picking the clock up from her nightstand, squinting at it. Her room was soft and expensive. The furniture was a rich mahogany, and everything else was shades of pink and purple. A vanity with a plush ottoman seat was to the left of her bed, and the raspberry red velvet curtains over the giant set of windows took up the wall on the right.

Goodbye, warm bed. Rouge yawned, put down the clock, and fastened on a rose-gold watch from her nightstand. She rolled out of her soft lavender sheets into a pink fuzzy robe waiting on the ottoman. She walked to the closet double-doors across from her bed, and threw them open. Rows of clothes on hangers lined the deep walk-in closet, and an ornate wardrobe sat at the back.

She dropped her robe, rifled through the left hangers, and threw on a pink skirt and a black shirt that looked decent together. Out of the closet, to her vanity. Rouge ran mascara through her eyelashes and pink lipstick over her mouth, approved her reflection, and left the room.

It went out to the hall, walking on the red, gold-trimmed carpet that ran down it.

She banged her fist on the next door. "Sonic!" Knock knock. "Wake up! You have school!"

"No I doooon't." A child's voice whined back.

"It's Monday!" Rouge yelled, "Get your butt out of your race car bed!"

She heard rustling in the room and waited a moment. A little blue hedgehog half her height stumbled out, quills ruffled. He had one Velcro shoe on and the other in his hand.

"I'm up, I'm up." He yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Hurry down for breakfast," Rouge said, starting down the hall. "Maybe your father's up."

Sonic's ears perked up, and he hopped past her on one foot, shoving his other foot into his shoe. Once it was on, he ran. The left edge of the hall changed from a wall to a balcony over the living room and the small foyer, in case one wanted to be dramatic and direct guests from above. A sparkling chandelier, its connection to the ceiling cracked, dangled near the balcony.

Sonic stopped at the end of the hall, right in front of the staircase down. He looked back at Rouge, beaming. "Hurry up, mama!"

"You're too fast!" Rouge said, up to a jog, "I'll catch up. Go sit at the table."

He nodded and hurtled out of sight down the stairs. Rouge glanced at the damaged chandelier with relief. Thank god, he didn't decide to swing on it today. She followed his path downstairs.

The stairs went down to the dining room, very close to the foyer. The room was lit with both ornate electric lights and the sun coming in through a large window between the fancy glassware cabinets. The light shone off a large grandfather clock sitting by the stairs. Its hands were stopped, but it stood in front of cracks in the wall.

Shadow was hunched over at the dining room table, buttering some toast with the butter dish. His only clothes were soft white socks on his feet. Sonic rocked back and forth in his seat next to him. Their chairs were by the wall. They had nearly identical glasses of orange juice; Shadow's was just larger.

Shadow looked up at her approach, expression bleary and dark circles under his eyes.

"Oh- Good morning, but you look awful," Rouge said, "You feel ok?"

"Only tired," Shadow answered. "I just got back."

"Just got ba-!" Rouge sputtered. "You stayed up most of yesterday too!"

"I'm just awake for him," Shadow tilted his head towards Sonic, who was waving his hands and watching his fingers blur. "I'll sleep soon."

"Ok, but- Gah, we don't have time. I'll say my piece later." She looked at Sonic. "Did you want toast?"

Sonic looked up blankly. "Wha?"

"What do you want for breakfast?" Shadow said patiently.

"Oh!" Sonic looked up at Rouge, "Do we have any more Marshmallow Bomb cereal?"

"Even if we do, no," Rouge said with her hands on her hips. "That stuff is pretty much just sugar."

"But it has vitamin C, it says!" He pleaded. "And it's so good and I like it."

"Listen to your mother," Shadow said sternly.

Sonic turned his puppy eyes on Dad. "Please?"

His stern look held up for five seconds. Shadow sighed and turned to Rouge. "It'll only go stale if he doesn't eat it."

"Yeah!" Sonic bounced in his seat, ecstatic. "What he said!"

Rouge shook her head, and went to go get it anyway. "Do I have one child or two?" She said on her way.

"Yes!" Sonic yelled. Then he paused and glanced around, confused. "Wait, what was the question?"

Shadow patted him on the head. "Don't worry about it."

Sonic leaned into his hand, settling down. "Ok."

Rouge came back from the kitchen with a colorful box of cereal, bowl, and spoon. Sonic grinned at the sight of the Marshmallow Bombs. She set it all down on the table, separated the crinkled cardboard flaps on top of the cereal box, and poured him some.

"Eat quick, ok?" She said. "We only have about-"

She looked at her watch and started. "Oh Christ, fifteen minutes until we leave. Sonic-"

He was happily stuffing his face, and didn't hear her.

"Shadow!" Rouge said instead, turning her head his direction, "Can you find his backpack? And then have him head to the dock? I'm gonna go get the speedboat started."

Shadow nodded and stood up. Rouge fled for the foyer, and ran out the front door

The door slam made Sonic jump in his seat. "Mm?" He looked up at Shadow for an explanation, cheeks full of marshmallows.

"Mom is going to the boat, and I'm getting your backpack," Shadow explained calmly. "Is it in your room?"

Sonic nodded. He returned to his cereal as Shadow hurried away.

He'd finished when Shadow came back with a bright red Space Ranger backpack. Sonic hopped out of his chair, and hurried to put it on.

He stood there, pack on back, smiling and looking prepared for anything.

Shadow glanced at the front door, and then held out his hand for Sonic. "Let's go. Rouge is waiting."

Sonic started. "Oh! Right!"

He grabbed Shadow's hand and tugged him through the house, through the front door, and down the carved stone stairs to the island's dock. White and pink boats of various sizes bobbed in the water, dyed yellow and peach by the dawning sun.

Rouge waved from a larger speedboat. "Here, guys!"

Sonic broke from Shadow's grip and hurried to the boat. Shadow slowed to a stop, hands on his knees, gasping for breath. His feet hurt from running on the rocks with just socks on. The boat wobbled as Rouge helped the little blue boy cross over the water between her and the dock. He scrambled into the seat behind Rouge.

"Is your seatbelt on?" She asked.

Click. "Yes!"

"Good." Rouge turned her head back. "Later, Shadow!"

Sonic also turned, and waved to him. Shadow straightened up, having mostly caught his breath, and waved back.

The boat revved, and soon it had disappeared into the distance, leaving only ripples in the water.

The black hedgehog yawned, and turned to trudge back inside. Back to his uneaten toast, and, eventually, sleep.

Rouge stepped inside the house, closing the front door behind her. Phew. She sighed and headed for the kitchen. Lord knows she needs some coffee before heading to work. Heading to work and inevitably running into at least one visiting businessman who thinks she's a secretary for her own company.

It annoyed her to think about it. CEO of the highest-grossing jewelry company in the country, her face in magazines all over Empire City, and middle-managers still occasionally snapped their fingers at her and demanded coffee with creamer.

But she always put them in their place. And, she reminded herself, compared to most her life is a breeze. Not everyone is rich, beautiful, and living with a great best friend and adorable son.

She smiled, thinking about that. Shadow was a blessing for their little family. He'd agreed to give up finding a job as a lawyer again to take care of the child who had fallen into their laps. In return, Rouge had promised to take over for him after work if he needed it. He hadn't thought he could be a good parent.

It turned out his fear was baseless. She'd come home the day after they'd taken Sonic in, and Shadow had been dashing around the house after their laughing little boy. It had taken a few minutes before either of them had even seen her; they'd been so involved in their game of tag.

Rouge's hands set the coffeemaker automatically, far from her thoughts. He was doing a lot for them. Maybe too much. Shadow had agreed to it all, of course, but he was fighting at night, caring for Sonic during the day…and not sleeping.

Somehow, lately he was getting back from nightly crime fighting at six AM, and then waking up again to greet her and Sonic when they got home. He'd also admitted to her once that it took a while for his mind to wind down enough to sleep. And he kept himself awake almost the whole time during weekends.

None of that was good, but on weekdays, he has time to sleep during school. For some reason, he isn't.

Her ear twitched. Footsteps, upstairs. She turned around.

Trudging across the balcony was Shadow. He stopped for a moment, visibly tensed up, and brought one hand to his head. What she could see of his face briefly contorted in pain.

Rouge walked over into the foyer, closer to the balcony. "Shadow?" She called up to him. He flinched before he turned to look down at her. "Are you feeling ok?"

He leaned heavily on the balcony railing, arms crossed on top of it. "...Just a headache." His expression was tired, and maddenly inscrutable. "You're back already."

Rouge glanced at her watch. "I'm a few minutes late, if anything- Look," She looked back up at him, her voice firm, "I saw you in pain just now. If you're sick or something, stay home and rest for tonight."

He glanced aside, brows furrowed, seeming to think for a moment.

"...I don't think I'm ill," Shadow said. "But I'll try to sleep."

"Well-...Alright, fine." That would work for now. He really needed sleep. Her voice softened slightly. "Sleep well, Shadow. I'll see you after work."

Shadow nodded, and turned to trudge to his room.

The coffeemaker dinged. Rouge's ear twitched at it's sound, then finally tore herself away to fetch her coffee. Though she hadn't even left yet, she would be glad to come home.

Empire City had been awake for a while. It was winding down from working, seemingly like any other city. Afternoon traffic clogged the roads, frazzled commuters and tired parents alike all heading home. Those who walked the sidewalks went by quickly, glancing around often, keeping death-grips on their purses and briefcases. The ones who walked slowly had nothing to carry.

The docks were equally frenetic and divided. Huge carrier ships and busy tugboats shared the waters with slow-going fishing boats. A few stylish speedboats zipped around, carefree.

Shadow walked down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He went through the dining room, and glanced furtively at the front door. They shouldn't be home yet, and they weren't. The only sound was his breathing. He headed to the living room, found the black TV remote on the glass coffee table, and fell back on the plush red sofa.

The wall-mounted television turned on, and flickered through different screens as Shadow pressed a practiced series of buttons on the remote.

A recording of the GCN News station started.

A crane woman took a deep breath and read from the papers in her hand. "In other news, the masked vigilante Black Cat," Shadow leaned forward in his seat, "was filmed yesterday resc-"

The channel switched, flashing through random TV shows and commercials. Shadow blinked, startled. A bright green paint-splatter logo that said Splat Cartoons bounced onto the screen. "And we're back, with My Life as a Teenage Space Ranger!"

Shadow rubbed his temples and swore quietly as the TV made laser noises. A temper flared for an instant, his fingers flexing.

' _You don't need to sneak around like this. If you would just listen to me, everything would be so much easier.'_

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to relax. "No…He's just a kid," Shadow mumbled to the voice. "It's fine; he doesn't know. I…just need to know what I did."

' _What_ _ **you**_ _did?'_ Shadow flinched, doubling over; his head pounded like someone was beating his way out of it. _'You don't do_ _ **anything.**_ _I'm doing it all for you, because you can't. Don't you dare question me.'_

Then silence. The back of his brain felt blank and empty with the voice gone. A void he didn't dare fill with a part of himself. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale- Get his head to stop hurting.

It was fine. It had to be fine. So long as they don't ask what he did last night…he'll be fine.

The cartoon on screen segued into dramatic music. With a fading headache, Shadow looked up to watch.

The cyborg ranger Jenna gasped as her cloaked enemy threw off their cape, revealing an evil copy of herself. The evil Jenna began a monologue, making expansive gestures and referencing things he assumed happened in previous episodes. Jenna just stood there for whatever reason, letting the monologue go on.

Shadow lay back into the couch with a sigh. How goofy. Sonic really liked this show, too.

Sonic. He'd feel better once his son was home. With the boy around, he couldn't withdraw and hide in his own head, even if he wanted to. Sonic always made things happy and lively. Last Saturday, he had jumped from the couch without warning and shouted a start for a game of tag. Shadow and Rouge had run around the whole house after him, Sonic laughing for them to catch him…

He'd think about Black Cat later. It wasn't time yet. For now….well, he'd be able to tell Sonic he'd seen the episode. It was silly, but it made him feel less empty. He _is_ doing something.

Rouge strode up the rocky stairs to the house, key ring in hand. Sonic bobbed along beside her, taking many small steps to keep pace.

"School was ok," He was saying to her, "The new tutor lady is helping me with my math."

"Oh, good. Her name is Mrs. Robinson, right?"

He tried to think for a second. "I think so...Yeah, probably," Sonic said, nodding.

"Either way," Rouge said. "It's about time the school board did something to help you. I only had to threaten them a little."

Sonic glanced around the island's scenery, not hearing. Then he looked up at her and said, "What are we having for dinner?"

"Dinner? We're not having dinner for a few hours," Rouge said, fumbling through her set of keys for the house key.

"But what're we havin'?" He said very fast.

She had to take a moment to remember. "Everything that's left. Ham, bread, and lobster." She admired Shadow's patience for these shifts in conversation topics. "The next food shipment is tomorrow."

Sonic digested this information, his expression thoughtful. "Will they send us gummy bears?"

"Maybe," She said, and made sure to smile at him. He gasped and vibrated.

"They will! They will!" He said, jumping up and down. "Thanks, mom!"

"You're welcome, honey," Rouge said, "Now let me get the door open."

She put the house key in the shiny oak door's lock. Turn, click. Rouge pulled the door just slightly open, then hurried back. Sonic flung the creaking door wide open, just missing her, and ran in.

Rouge waited for the telltale thump of Sonic's backpack being tossed to the floor. Only after did she walked in, shutting the door behind her.

She didn't have to look far to find him. Shadow looked up and nodded at Rouge upon her arrival. He was on the couch, holding Sonic on his lap. The television was going.

Sonic kicked his feet happily in the air of over Shadow's legs. "I love this show," He said. "This is the last episode with Dark Jenna."

"Is it?" Shadow said.

Sonic nodded, enraptured by the TV. "This part is good. She stops listening to all the bad stuff that Dark Jenna was saying, and..." He drifted off, distracted.

The TV made a laser noise.

"Oh yeah!" Sonic said joyfully, "They fight!"

"I see." Shadow nodded, as if thoughtfully considering the cartoon brawl. "I haven't seen this one. Who wins?"

"Jenna wins. Because she's the good guy and I like her."

By now, Shadow wore a softened expression, focused on his son's conversation. "Of course."

Rouge was smiling. Aww. "Hold on, I'm coming to sit down!" She dashed in front of the TV to get to the couch.

"Mama!" Sonic squirmed around on Shadow's lap, trying to see the television, "Get out of the way!"

Rouge threw herself down on the couch next to Shadow. "It was just for a second, honey!"

"Still too long!" He scolded her, "I missed a part!"

"But-" Rouge laughed. "But you're missing more parts right now!"

Sonic flailed, accidentally hitting Shadow in the torso at least once, looking panicked. "Oh no!"

"Oof-! It...It's a recording," Shadow said, catching Sonic from falling off his lap, "I'll just rewind it."

Sonic settled down a little, sitting on dad's legs. "Ok. Do it."

Shadow held out the remote. "Tell me when to hit play."

"Nnnow. No no wait! Not yet." Sonic waited another couple of seconds. "Ok, NOW."

The action music came back on. Jenna's metal arm morphed into a club. "Why didn't you say you wanted to play baseball?" She quipped, and beat a dark ball of energy back at the villain.

Sonic rubbed his hands together, pleased. "Yessss."

Rouge broke down giggling. Shadow didn't laugh, but his mouth twitched.

The ending played out as Sonic predicted, with Jenna defeating Dark Jenna.

"Geez, they found out the villain wasn't really alive and let her fall into a bottomless pit. Isn't that kinda dark for a kids show?" Rouge asked Shadow, brow raised, as Jenna turned away from the void pit to rejoin her friends.

Shadow glanced down at Sonic, who was bouncing and repeating how much he loved it, and shrugged. "He doesn't seem to mind."

And that was that. After it was over, they had dinner, sitting in the same chairs as they did for breakfast. Sonic excitedly recounted the parts he liked through mouthfuls of ham sandwich and lobster thermidor.

"Don't choke!" Rouge said to him, "Chew your food."

"But-" He gulped down the ham. "Jenna was like 'I'm gonna handle this alone' and her friends were like 'nooooo' because they wanted to help. But she did have to do some parts alone. I think because it was her problem, and her friends can't get rid of her problem unless she fights it too." Sonic shrugged. "I dunno. I liked the laser fight! It was awesome."

Rouge was on her last few bites, slow and polite. Shadow had long since cleaned his plate. He still sat at the table, listening to Sonic.

"-And the void looked cool! I like that word. Void. Void. Void void void." He looked at each of his parents, seeking acknowledgement.

"It's a good word," said Shadow, nodding in agreement. "Void."

Sonic pointed at him, waving his other arm around in excitement, "Yes! Void. Voidy. Void pit. The void pit was cool." He lowered his arms, blinking. "Huh. Void doesn't sound like a word anymore."

Rouge leaned towards her son, smiling, "Are you going to a-void it?"

Sonic laughed. "Nope! Void void void."

Rouge cleared her throat, and set down her fork with a clink on her empty plate. "Speaking of the void, it's-"

"Dad!" Sonic interrupted, excited, "After dinner can we watch another Space Rangers episode?"

"Well- I don't know." Shadow turned towards Rouge for approval.

She gestured at the dining room window. "I was trying to say, it's getting dark out."

Shadow followed her hand out the window to the black sky. "...Ah." His shoulders fell. He looked aside at Sonic and said, "Your mother's right. I have to work."

"Aw." Sonic drooped briefly. He perked himself up and said, hope in his voice, "But I'll see you at breakfast tomorrow?"

Shadow leaned over and patted Sonic's head. His expression softened, as it always did for his son. "Of course." He left his chair, and slid it back under the table.

He didn't have to go far. Shadow stopped in front of the grandfather clock by the stairs. He reached for its face, and moved its broken hands to midnight.

A mechanism clattered behind the stairwell. The clock and the wall around it drew back into a space under the stairs. Shadow's nose twitched; the gap let in a smell like stale sea air. The clock stopped, shuddered, and moved to the left, sandwiching it between the wall still there and the chunk of wall on its back.

Where the clock had been were concrete stairs going down into darkness. Shadow stepped in, and knelt down on the top stair. He felt around the rough drywall behind the clock. His fingers found domed lights going up and down, and, below the last one, a switch.

Click. Five bright white lights blazed down a descending set of concrete stairs.

Shadow gazed down the stairs, and hesitated. Even he didn't know when he'd be back.

He turned back towards the kitchen table, and waved goodbye.

Sonic waved enthusiastically, "Bye, dad!" Rouge smiled and returned the wave too. Shadow nodded an acknowledgement, and disappeared down the stairs.

When he was gone, Sonic let down his waving arm. He thought of something, and frowned. He looked up at Rouge and said, "Mama, doesn't Dad go to work later?"

Rouge nodded. "I'm hoping that if he leaves earlier, he'll come back earlier too. He needs more sleep."

"Oh." He considered this idea. "So he can eat breakfast with us without, uh...being really tired?"

"Exactly. I hope it works. Now you need to get to bed, young man..."

At the bottom of the stairs was a sort of island in the dark, deep waters of the ocean. The lights lost power as they went; at the bottom, they combined into one faded source of light. The island was the opposite of the house upstairs: small, dark, and untouched by civilized comforts.

A section on the right had a punching bag, hand weights, training pads, and other things. Anything that made himself stronger that wouldn't rust or short out in the dank, salty air. The tip furthest away from him faded into a tiny beach of grey sand. Built over it was a solid-looking wooden dock, and parked there was a sleek black speedboat.

And on the left, just beyond the circle of light, was a Plexiglas cabinet, fastened clumsily to the ground by someone unused to construction. He could not see it very well, but he already knew what was inside. On the left half of its insides, a black costume hung, while transparent shelves on the other half held the matching helmet, boots, and gloves.

The time felt a little off. It was earlier than usual for him to go out. Rouge had clearly wanted him to leave. Perhaps the voice was right, and this was what he was meant to be doing…

' _I told you. You're catching on._ '

Shadow walked as though in a trance towards the cabinet.

' _Soon.'_ The back of his skull itched eagerly against his brain. The itch grew as he put more and more of the costume on. It was a quick and easy process by now. He had no clothes of his own to cast off to put on the costume.

Shadow closed his eyes, and held up the helmet to slide it on.

"Shadow?"

He flinched, yanking the mask away and pushing himself back into control. The other was almost choked down when he looked up at Rouge on the stairs.

"Good, I caught you before you left." She took a few steps down the stairs. They echoed in the caverns, and were almost as loud as the buzzing in his head. "Don't stay out so late this time, alright?" There was a note of worry in her voice, "Your sleep schedule is real wonky, and you've been…off, lately."

She's right. He looked at anything but her, trying to work out how to answer. It doesn't matter and I'm not in control of that. It was true, but he can't say that. She'd ask him to explain, and he can't. He just can't. He'd sound crazy.

' _She wouldn't believe whatever you said, anyway. She wants you here for what I do. Get her to leave and let me take care of things.'_

Shadow managed to focus on her again, and said, "I'll try."

"Try?" Rouge put her hands on her hips. "We need you back in one piece!"

Does she not think he can do it? This whole thing was her idea, dammit- "I slept while Sonic was at school," He said, "I'm fine."

"That's not what I'm saying. You-"

His head pulsed. _'Idiot!'_ He lay his ears back, flinching. ' _Hurry_ _ **up!**_ _'_

"Were all- Shadow?" Rouge took a step down the stairs towards him. He looked up at her, forcing any pain from his expression. "It's like I said before! If there's something wrong with you, stay home!"

"Nn- I said I'm _fine_." He said it with more impatience than he'd meant to. "I've slept, I function, I can do this. I'll see you, and Sonic, in the morning."

"Shadow-! You-" She audibly struggled with frustration. "Fine! But make sure you come back!"

He never liked having to lie to her. "I will."

Rouge took in a deep breath, and said, "If you die, I'll kill you." She turned to walk back up the stairs, and paused.

It echoed softly down to him. "Good night, Shadow."

Then she went back up the stairs, and left. The clockwork door to the cave closed behind her, leaving the cave even darker.

' _Finally.'_ A calm hiss of triumph. _'For once you've done something right. Now let me out.'_

Shadow turned away from where Rouge had been, from the stairs and the light, and slid on the mask.

The presence in his head surged. The mask's mechanism clacked to extend small metal plates around his head, molding his quills into the pointed shape of a cat's head.

A last twitch, and then it wasn't Shadow anymore.

Black Cat strided with confidence to the boat, started its engine, and went off into the night.


End file.
